The United States Embassy has data indicating the number of Nigerians who come to join their spouses in the US every year. In this instance, no attempt was made to collect such data.
However, several trends were deduced from several exchanges that took place with friends and friends-of-friends and acquaintances in several enclaves in the US. Some of the patterns that emerged include the fact that no fewer than 310 folks embark on this voyage -- of which eighty percent are women. Of this, about two-third are Christians with post-secondary education; and two-third are between the ages of 25 and 37.Of the base number, eighty-five percent are from the southern region, with eighty-seven percent appearing to come from financially disadvantaged homes.
What is true of the US also seem to be true of Canada, the United Kingdom and various European Union nations. What's more, the percentages of Nigerians who go overseas to join their spouses, fiancé and fiancée have increased twenty-five percent in the last two decades. It is instructive to note that the immigration process can be trying and costly. Frankly, it is a process that demands a lot of resourcefulness, wits and perseverance. It is a process that, more often than not, results in rejection and depression. Even so, many and many more are willing to undertake this mentally and physically draining exercise.
But why do Nigerians go though this tortuous immigration process? Why do Nigerian women, living in Nigeria, agree to marrying men they, in most cases, hardly know? And why do Nigerian men go home to marry instead of marrying the women they've romanced here in the US. After all, most of the women who are already in the US are well-educated, well-read and well-traveled; they are well mannered and have, in most cases, proven their trustworthiness. These are women of two worlds: they know Africa and also understand the Western society. But in spite of their advantages and pluses, the vast majority of these women are likely to lose their boyfriends to women back home.
In significant numbers, Nigerian men would rather go home to marry the "unknown and the greenhorn" rather than marry the proven and the reliable. Granted that a thousand men have a thousand reasons for going home to marry, there are common threads as to why they do what they do: (1) because they can; (2) most men are under the illusion that women back home are innocent, un-spoilt and virginal; (3) it is an ego-boosting exercise; (4) it allows some men to mask their shortcomings since the women who are already in the US can tell where these men stand on the social and economic ladder. Additionally, some men want their women to look up to them since it makes them appear more than what and who they really are. Other men go home to marry because, as some have stated, "Nigerian girls in the US are rotten, too exposed, too independent and/or too aggressive."
Why Nigerians In America Come Home To Marry (http://www.saharareporters.com/article/why-nigerians-america-come-home-marry)